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As my Model S delivery date approaches, I'm starting to plan road trips that I normally take with my 15 mpg premium gas-guzzling SUV, and looking at how to do the trip in my Model S. The Model S has enough range that it works great as a daily driver and for <200 mile weekend trips in my surrounding area. Tesla is solving the problem of getting from point A to B over longer distances with their super charger network, and (mostly) meets my needs for travel within CA. The problem I'm having is that for longer trips, when I arrive at my destination there are practically no Level 2 (or better) EV chargers available at hotels. It seems this is a big missing link that could impede EV adoption as a replacement for ICE vehicles for road trips. For example, there are no J1772 charging stations at any hotels in Anaheim, CA, hometown of Disneyland.

The people currently buying the Tesla Model S are a fairly affluent (and probably influential crowd). So the question I have is what can we do as early adopters to encourage hotels (and preferably entire hotel chains) to install more EV charging stations?

I'm personally planning on speaking with the manager at any hotel I stay at that doesn't have EV charging stations and playing the role of an EV evangelist (including offering a demo/ride). The main point I would like to impart on them is that will lose my business if another hotel in their area offers EV charging, and they don't. I don't really care if they offer it for free, or want to charge me a reasonable fee, but I do want to charge my car at Level 2 or higher.

Try and speak with the property manager and get them on board as well. Explain to them that you will only stay there if they install an charger in the future and that the charger (if it's an expensive hotel) would pay for itself in a week if someone else in your situation chose to stay there just for the EV charging instead of somewhere else.

Join together with other EV drivers and fund the purchase of the Charging Station and then offer it for free to the Hotel. Ask the Hotel to take on the ownership and pay for the installation and ongoing maintenance using their own electricians (this can be very low cost). Keep the charging fee collection process simple and avoid credit cards or anything else that requires a monthly fee (most sites will choose to offer free charging to customers). Identify the decision maker at the Hotel and arrange a meeting and take them for a ride. Start with independent Hotels and those with a 'green' or 'eco' policy. Make presentations at accommodation provider get togethers and coffee mornings. Expect to be doing this for the next 5 years...

This simple model has allowed us to develop a network of ~200 locations across the UK today - ZeroNet.

What you don't see on the map are a global chain of hotels who are currently installing but unannounced. This chain intend to be the EV destination of choice across the globe, and we are currently planning a national TV campaign and a competition to give away an EV with a years stay at their locations. Without the simple model outlined above we could never have developed the environment in which a global chain would embrace EV's.

IMO the EV 'network' vendors are irrelevant... it's the existing businesses who will provide the vast majority of charging and all we need to do is show them the way with simple, reliable, and low cost solutions.

......What you don't see on the map are a global chain of hotels who are currently installing but unannounced. This chain intend to be the EV destination of choice across the globe, and we are currently planning a national TV campaign and a competition to give away an EV with a years stay at their locations. Without the simple model outlined above we could never have developed the environment in which a global chain would embrace EV's....

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Wow! This is great news, will make long range EVs more practical and desirable. Campgrounds already offer an extensive network of 50 A outlets, but most Model S owners will prefer a Hotel. Together with Supercharger stations, J1772 at hotels will enable any trip that can be done on a gas or diesel car.

Is there any advantage to J1772 over just a 14-50 240V outlet assuming they're the normal 30A J1772 systems? For overnight at a hotel, 30 or 40 amp charging is probably fine in any event and I'd think it would be a lot cheaper to install and keep running. There's no way to charge money for it, but if it's inside a hotel parking area it could be an extra on the room rate.

Is there any advantage to J1772 over just a 14-50 240V outlet assuming they're the normal 30A J1772 systems?

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We started life donating 'simple' sockets but it was very heavy going. What you will soon discover is that following an approach host sites undertake some research and quickly discover Charging Stations, and at that point they will not consider installing anything else. My advice is to find yourselves a source for low cost high quality J1772 Charging Stations or have some developed if they don't exist (that's what we did).

EV Oasis (in SoCal) has a contract with Marriott for 22 locations from San Diego to Santa Barbara. These are currently all planned to be DC CHAdeMO stations (the first one is currently at Residence Inn in San Juan Capistrano), however, if you want to organize some money to get 40-75 amp EVSE's with J1772 connectors, let me know. Something similar to what was done with Rabobanks with the Roadster EVSE's.

We have a very nice newer 4 star hotel in our town that is the first LEED certified hotel in Illinois. They have a parking deck that serves the hotel and adjacent office building. I have been pushing them to get charging stations installed but have had no luck getting them to move yet. I am going to keep trying!

Sigh, all the hotels have 220v service. Installing a couple of NEMA 50 receptacles near parking would cost the hotel peanuts. A nominal $5 charge for a couple of hours would recover any power usage....

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